MUSIC 

ELLIE RHEE
[or CARRY ME BACK TO TENNESSEE]
by Septimus Winner
(1827-1902)


Sweet Ellie Rhee, so dear to me,
     Is lost forever more;
Our home was down in Tennessee.
     Before dis cruel war.
Then carry me back to Tennessee,
     Back where I long to be,
Among the fields of yellow corn,
     To my darling Ellie Rhee.

CHORUS:Then carry me back to Tennessee,
     Back where I long to be,
Among de friends of yellow corn,
     To my darling Ellie Rhee.

Oh why did I from day to day,
     Keep wishing to be free;
And away from my massa run away
     And leave my Ellie Rhee.
Then carry me back to Tennessee,
     Back where I long to be,
Among the fields of yellow corn,
     To my darling Ellie Rhee.
     
CHORUS

They said that I would soon be free
     And happy all de day.
But if dey take me back again,
     I'll never run away.
Then carry me back to Tennessee,
     Back where I long to be,
Among the fields of yellow corn,
     To my darling Ellie Rhee.
   
CHORUS

The war is over now at last.
     De color'd race am free,
Dat good time comin' on so fast:
     I'm waiting for to see.

CHORUS



Thanks to Dean Fowler of ReWEP Associates
for creating the MIDI file of Ellie Rhee
©Poetry and Music of the War Between the States
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.




Songs of the Union